The brief
A first birthday at a villa on the Bukit, held on the terrace. Kai was one; the guests were his parents' friends and their slightly older children. So the day had two jobs — one beautiful photograph of the three of them, and something to hold the four- and five-year-olds for half an hour so the adults could talk.
What we built
A cream arch reading <i>Kai’s ONEderful year</i> in gold script, with a giraffe painted by hand looking in over the top of it and a dried palm fan tucked into the corner. The balloon garland stayed entirely in cream, blush, mocha, taupe and one line of burnt orange — no primary colours anywhere, which is why the family photograph in front of it does not look like a children’s party at all.
How the day went
Then the magician arrived: mustard three-piece, top hat, headset microphone, a star-covered case and a proper close-up act. A vanishing cane, a sequinned cloth, a flower production, a cup trick with a volunteer in a leopard tutu. The older children sat in a row and did not move. The birthday boy watched from his father’s knee and mostly looked at the hat.
What the parents got
A neutral, grown-up set that dates well, and a half hour where every child in the villa was sitting still, facing the same direction. At a first birthday, that half hour is the entire product.
